JohnAmardeil.com

Henry Ford famously said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have said ‘a faster horse.’”

I was reminded of this quote when reading a recent New York Times article. Titled “Mom, Dad, This Playground’s for You,” it discusses the City of New York’s latest attempt at helping its citizens live a healthier, more active lifestyle. How? By installing — you guessed it — adult playgrounds.

The idea isn’t really new— adult playgrounds already exist in Europe and China, as well as in other U.S. states. However, the idea does make special sense in New York, where adults are banned from regular playgrounds unless accompanied by a child, which means they can’t very well use little Tony’s monkey bars to do a few pull-ups.

Sceptics might argue most adults haven’t demanded the right to have access to a playground. Yet I trust many will find themselves using these facilities, especially when it’s nice out and when they’re conveniently located close to home. After all, these playgrounds do make the prospect of working out a lot more fun than running on a treadmill indoors like a lab rat.

Indeed, for all the press New York’s adult playgrounds are getting, some of us in the private sector have already conceived communities where adults and children alike will find pretty much any athletic activity just beyond their backyard. This is what we’re doing in our Treetops community, which will feature a full-sized athletic field, plenty of trails dotted with outdoors fitness stations, and an outdoor community park with beach volleyball and basketball courts.

When planning a new community, do you settle for providing homeowners (and clients) with preconceived notions of what they want? Or do you go beyond and offer them something they didn’t know they wanted?

A properly planned Facebook strategy can help drive the success of your business.

Do you read Profit magazine? If you do, a recent article called “How to Land a Canuck” may have caught your eye. It certainly caught mine.

Dealing mostly with how you should go about creating an effective online strategy for your business, the article started by introducing some eye-opening statistics:

• Canadians average almost 42 hours a month online. This is more than the people of any other country.

• Last year alone, Canadians spent $16.5 billion online.

• 60% of Canada’s 15 million Facebook users log in every day.

• 35% of Canadian consumers use social networks to research products or services. What’s more, over a quarter are more loyal to firms with a social media presence.

This article was written by none other than Toronto entrepreneur Joanna Track, creator of Sweetspot.ca (which was recently acquired by Rogers) and Dealuxe.ca, which aims to bring deluxe online shopping. So it seems like Ms. Track knows a thing or two about online marketing.

Admittedly, the article doesn’t touch on the new homes market. Yet it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to see how these stats support the case that we too should be online in general and in social media in particular.

After all, most homebuyers begin their search online. And it would be shortsighted to ignore the fact that they are most likely already on Facebook. This is why we do our best to create amazing, SEO-optimized websites as well as social media channels (typically Facebook, although we often use blogs and Twitter).

What’s your social media experience like? Does it confirm the article’s stats?

I was extremely happy to learn that BAM was nominated for no fewer than eight BILD awards this week.

Above all, I was proud that BAM’s nominated for two social media campaigns. That’s two out of three finalists — the kind of odds I love.

In social media, even music and homes can go together

Triumph’s social media campaign was a perfect fit for its younger, fun-loving demographic.

The two social media campaigns for which we’re nominated are Brookfield Homes’ Pathways in Caledon East and Highmark Homes’ Triumph.

The former comprises a blog and Facebook page, both of which see a lot of activity coming from current and prospective homeowners.

As for the latter, its backbone was a music contest (yep, you read that right), which we hosted on Triumph’s Facebook page. The campaign includes a Twitter account and a series of posts in the corporate blog.

As these two campaigns show, the key to social media is to have a friendly voice, to provide followers with useful information, to avoid coming across as corporate or commercial, and to genuinely care for their needs, making sure their concerns are addressed as soon as possible.

It’s all about the client

In many ways, Pathways is the opposite of Triumph in that it attracts couples that are married, have kids, and seek a peaceful, family-friendly community.

Of course, the greatest satisfaction comes not from nominations or awards.

It comes from knowing that we are providing the highest level of service and quality in strategy, creative, management and production.

It comes from knowing we are doing our very best to truly delight and amaze each and every client we are privileged to serve.

Still, it’s great to see BAM’s hard work recognized, especially in the area of social media, which I have long told clients will only become more important.

Our nominations are:

PROJECT OF THE YEAR – LOW-RISE

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link)

BEST DIRECT MAIL

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link) 

BEST NEWSPAPER AD

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing 

BEST LOW-RISE SALES OFFICE

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing  (see this link)

BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

Brookfield Homes, Pathways – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link)

Highmark Homes, Triumph – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (see this link)

BEST WEBSITE

Highmark Homes – BAM Builder Advertising & Marketing (see this link)

BEST MODEL HOME

Eden Oak Homes, Estates of Credit Ridge, “The Newcastle” – BAM Builder Advertising and Marketing (with Neodeco Designs)

More often than not, a judge’s expertise is a good thing.

Something important may be about to happen.

Industry outsiders no doubt missed it, given the councillors’ headline-grabbing spat over the TTC that overshadowed most other local news last Monday.

But on the same day, the Toronto City Council asked the province to free the city from the Ontario Municipal Board’s jurisdiction, a measure that its proponents claim would give residents a greater say over what gets built in their neighbourhoods.

This isn’t the first blow to the OMB — only a few months ago, Mississauga called on the province to abolish the Board, which hears appeals of zoning decisions and frequently overturns council.

Indeed, the OMB is no stranger to controversy, having been accused of not keeping itself up-to-date and of acting in a quasi-judicial manner. Recently, a Toronto Star reporter went so far as to call it “a 19th century relic.”

On the other hand, the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) says the current system works fine.

“In principle, BILD strongly supports the necessity of the Ontario Municipal Board, by providing an impartial, adjudicative tribunal, further removed from local political pressures,” wrote BILD in a letter addressed to the council.

Moreover, as this article notes, while the OBC is often accused of cozying up to developers, it has also taken decisions that defied corporate interests, such as when it kept Walmart out of Leslieville in 2009.

Local councils certainly have no planning or development training. Their agenda is often short-term, which can prevent them from seeing the big picture.

Given these limitations, I doubt councils will be able to handle disputes between NIMBYs and municipalities, and I worry that they will indefinitely tie up projects.

What are your thoughts?